In 2017, an unknown 27-year-old blues guitarist from Antrim called Dom Martin took the stage during an open mic session at a local golf club. For years he had been giving free concerts in pubs and bars across the North. Life was hard. There was no money. He speaks openly about having to live in the same ill-fitting clothes and struggling to provide for his former partner and their son, Luca, who is now six. What got him through it all was music, which remains his lifeline, his reason for existing.

That night at the golf club, he was spotted by someone who called a friend of a friend with connections in the music industry. From that moment on, everything changed. Under the direction of Fenton and Audrey Parsons of Red pepper promotionsMartin’s fortunes took an upward turn. The couple guided him through the minefield of the business, organizing his tours and helping to shape his budding career.

Since the release of his debut studio album, Spain to Italy, in 2019, he has won six British Blues Awardsfor Best Solo Artist, Best Acoustic Blues Group, Best Instrumentalist and Best Album. In 2022 he was inducted into the UK Blues Hall of Fame and has been hailed by critics and fellow musicians as a rare talent, the next rising star of the global Roots scene and a unique, authentic and vital artist.

In 2022, his second album, A Savage Life – his full name is Dominic Martin Savage – propelled him onto the British and European blues-rock scenes, and last year his third album, Buried in the Hail, was voted blues album of the year at the UK Blues Awards.

Last month he returned from a series of solo concerts in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands to perform at the private launch of his hero’s auction. Rory Gallagherthe collection of guitars, amps and accessories at Bonhams in London. Music journalist Neil McCormick describes Gallagher’s “aggressive, lyrical touch that made the instrument burn beneath his fingers.” Similar sentiments have been expressed about Martin, a compliment he finds a bit damning.

( Rory Gallagher’s signature Stratocaster to be donated to the National Museum of Ireland after being sold at auction for more than €1 millionOpens in a new window )

“Rory is my idol,” he says. “I admire him as a person as well as an absolutely incredible musician, singer and songwriter. He forged his own path, and it made him a better man. He played where others didn’t play. His music was raw and raw and never aimed to make political points. He was just being himself.

After a few days’ break at his cottage on the Ards Peninsula, Martin hits the road again to promote his new live album, Buried Alive; he will perform in Ireland and Britain with his band members, Ben Graham on bass and Aaron McLaughlin on drums, both classically trained musicians.

Given Martin’s high-octane sound, wild-haired stage presence, and fearless playing style, one might imagine a swaggering and flamboyant real-life character. But he speaks softly, soft and self-effacing, giving off the vibe of a man who can’t quite believe how his life has changed.

“God only knows where I would be without Fenton and Audrey,” he said. “They literally saved my life. I had a crazy upbringing. I didn’t go to school. I only went there for the free lunch and then went home. Eventually, I withdrew completely. My parents were lovely people but not good at raising children. They had had terrible childhoods themselves and had no role models. Then they had five kids – and we’re all crazy. I don’t know how they coped. I’m the one in the middle. I always look after my younger brothers and sisters, but I have almost no contact with the older ones.

He grew up as a shy and introspective child in a predominantly Protestant town, 30 kilometers from Belfast. He describes the nearby streets as “outlaw country”, where in the years following the unrest, communities lived under the rule of criminals, paramilitaries and drug traffickers. As a teenager, he kept his head down and didn’t stray far, spending all his waking hours listening to and playing the music passed down to him from his father, guitarist and songwriter Micky Savage.

Apart from a guitar that his father gave him when he was very young, nothing was given to him. The first song Martin learned to play was Ralph McTell‘s Streets of London, focusing on finger-picking sequences, while trying to sing along at the same time. Years later, this same gifted boy would find himself sharing the experiences of some of the troubled characters captured in McTell’s poignant lyrics and incorporating them into his own songs.

“These experiences are the origins of my songs,” Martin explains. “I’m open about it. I mean, from the beginning, the blues were born out of trauma. At the time, there was a lot of judgment about alcohol and drugs, from people who didn’t know my father. You are treated a little differently. But… that’s how it is.

“Music is not only total immersion, it’s disconnection. It’s like breathing. I live alone, which is entirely my choice. The only way for me to function as a human being is to be alone. I’m socially awkward and anxious. I prefer to be alone rather than make friends. Even as a child, if someone came to the house, I would pick up the guitar and play, to say, “Look at me, I’m saying hello.”

“I see my boy Luca as often as possible. He lives with his mother, not far away, but I miss him. I try to learn from my father’s mistakes, to do my best for him. I live pretty frugally and the only reason I want to make money is to make life better.

“It would be easy for me to portray my father in a bad light. He had both a good and a bad influence on me. He was dragged to Belfast during the Troubles and lost both parents at the age of 10. For all his faults, he was a great guy and I miss him every day. But it was a nightmare to live through. He drank and smoked too much and didn’t want to change his habits for anyone. I had the privilege of caring for him despite a serious illness during the last years of his life.

From a young age, Martin understood that the only way to bond with his father was to play guitar. He also admits to his smoking and drinking habits, as well as the drugs he used. He says his father would be proud that, through his own efforts, he is now sober, clean and healthy, and that he never drinks.

“When I was little, we listened to stuff together and he noticed that I loved the blues,” Martin says. “My first introduction was through the album Meddle by Pink Floyd. Then he put me on Rory, Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters, John Martyn, John PrineZeppelin, DylanMcTell… all these guys. I kept each of these files. They have been part of my daily life since I was a baby. My father played these songs on the guitar. He was a brilliant musician. By imitating him, I learned so much.

From his current vantage point, he looks back philosophically on the gigs he played, in bars, clubs, festivals and blues cruises, and supporting legendary artists such as Joe Bonamassa and Eric Gales. If he plays badly, he takes it on the chin and learns from it. He lives in the present and has no big ambitions except to be a better guitarist, write better songs and be a better father. But there is one concert that has no equal.

“Playing the Rory Auction was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” he says. “I have to hold his Strat. I even got to play the Esquire and its 1930 National Triolian Resonator. I had been looking for this guitar for about 25 years. Ever since I was a kid, I was addicted to the songs he played on it. I wanted to see him; I wanted to touch it and play with it. When I saw all these guitars and stuff on display, I couldn’t help but shake.

“Throughout the concert I was really looking forward to playing the songs Rory had written, to make him proud in front of his family and the audience. We were all there because we loved Rory. It was like I had been practicing this moment my whole life. I think we did well. I feel like I’ve accomplished something now and I can move on. I was very, very privileged to be there.

Dom Martin plays at The Pav, Cork, Tuesday, November 26; Whelan’s, Dublin, Wednesday, November 27; Dolans Warehouse, Limerick, Thursday, November 28; Sandinos, Derry, Friday November 29; Skylite Room, Warrenpoint, Saturday, November 30; and Mandela Hall, Belfast, on Sunday 1 December